Backs up its wonderful title by being a wonderful story. LeGuin manages to have very strong moral messages without overtly moralizing (well, usually). That's true of A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness, as well as this book. The depth of her imagination helps, and her compassion for her characters. The villain in Lathe is not evil but tragic, in the classical sense that he is hubristic to a fault. And the protagonist, as in A Wizard of Earthsea, comes to his heroism and strength by way of modesty and wisdom rather than a great capacity for action or leadership.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Just one example of LeGuin's prodigious imagination and ability to recast old tropes to tell new stories: Her vision for an alien invasion of Earth, in which the initial alien attack on human bases on the Moon is a mistake, an attempt on their part to communicate before they understand that our communication with each other is verbal. They land on Earth without weapons, truly coming in peace, and we freak out, bombing everything in sight and even nuking Mount Hood to the point where it erupts. But the aliens are basically indestructible, and only once they figure out that they have to communicate with us in spoken words and then invent a way to imitate our speech are they able to settle us down. Eventually they just quietly integrate into human society, walking among us and owning small shops and other businesses. Awe-inspiring.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Just one example of LeGuin's prodigious imagination and ability to recast old tropes to tell new stories: Her vision for an alien invasion of Earth, in which the initial alien attack on human bases on the Moon is a mistake, an attempt on their part to communicate before they understand that our communication with each other is verbal. They land on Earth without weapons, truly coming in peace, and we freak out, bombing everything in sight and even nuking Mount Hood to the point where it erupts. But the aliens are basically indestructible, and only once they figure out that they have to communicate with us in spoken words and then invent a way to imitate our speech are they able to settle us down. Eventually they just quietly integrate into human society, walking among us and owning small shops and other businesses. Awe-inspiring.
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